Takebachi Soramaru's History
This page provides a summarized history of the life of Takebachi Soramaru. Early Years: Late 16th to Early 20th Century As a child, Takebachi's closest friend was his cousin Aoi, who was often said to be his female counterpart due to their cooperative mischief and penchant for getting into fights. This attachment benefited the plans of the family, and so Takebachi and Aoi were betrothed to be married at a young age--an arrangement they both found acceptable at first. In the Academy, Takebachi made friends with a fellow in his class by the name of Justice Kuroshin. Kuroshin joined the 12th Division while Takebachi joined the 13th. The two remained in constant contact with one-another during this time, but while the hard-working Kuroshin eventualy found himself promoted to Vice-Captain, Takebachi somehow remained unseated, even after eventually earning Bankai. It was soon afterward that Takebachi would meet his other close friend Doreran Uoshintan. The Monochrome Wars: 1910s to 1930s Though Takebachi participated in The Monochrome Wars, he fought in no major battles or missions essential to the Gotei's victory, to his dismay. Overall, his friend Kuroshin, and his cousin Aoi, were far more instrumental during the war. Takebachi's most crowning achievement during the war was battling an army of over 10,000 Hollows by himself over the course of six days and nights without sleep, defending an impressive number of Souls within Rukongai. For this effort, Takebachi received brief recognition, and was promised a promotion to officer--a promotion that never came after the death of his Captain, Maya Skyblossom. After the death of the Captain, Takebachi did not mesh well with the leadership of the officers during the interim, and transferred to the Hakuda-focused Ninth Division. But Takebachi's bad luck persisted, as the Ninth Division was later thrown in shambles from the death of its own Captain, Haku Mitsubishi. The Betrayal: 1940s Take's detachment from the politics of nobility was eventually turned against him when a beautiful heiress named Tomiko Kaifu seduced him, with him unaware that he was his brother's wife. Not long after, his aunt and uncle were murdered in Rukongai. Both Take and Aoi discovered that the culprits were a Hollow-Shinigami duo that stalked victims around the alleys of Soul Society. Even more troubling, however, was that Juusuke, whose sector of Rukongai it occurred within, had ignored the murders at the behest of Tomiko, and thus indirectly caused the death of Aoi's parents. Aoi attacked him after learning this. Takebachi intervened and, demonstrating his newly-earned Bankai, managed to defeat and subdue Aoi. Tomiko claimed that Takebachi had coerced her during their sexual liaisons. Juusuke believed her, and defected from his own family to join House Kaifu. Saddened by the death of his brother, and the abandonment of his eldest son, Takebachi's father relinquished control of House Soramaru to him. Aoi rekindled their friendship, and eventually sparked old feelings for each other. Battle of Las Noches: 1950s During The Monochrome Wars, Takebachi's friend Kuroshin had been forced to abandon the Gotei 13 after he was discovered as a Visored. This departure was also motivated by Kuroshin's search for his soulmate, Summer, who had become the Hollow Crimson Wing. Chasing her, and the organization behind her transformation, Kuroshin eventually sparked The First Battle Of Las Noches. Takebachi took part in the battle with Kuroshin, Doreran, Aoi, and other allies. They succeeded not only in rescuing Crimson Wing and bringing her back to the side of good, but stopping other plans orchestrated by sinister conspiracy. Takebachi's Rebirth: 1960s During the battle, Takebachi was struck by a mysterious Quincy technique that somehow corrupted his connection with his zanpakutou’s spirit. Eventually growing impatient with the inability of the Fourth and Twelfth Divisions to help, Takebachi joined the Twelfth to proactively look for a solution himself. The cursed shinigami resolved to apply to the 12th Division on his own, hoping to find a cure to his predicament. Eventually, the solution was found by Takebachi's zanpakutou spirit itself, allowing him to restore their connection. With this new zanpakutou in hand, Takebachi began again to once more train toward the long road to bankai, sacrificing his speed and mobility in order to improve his striking power. The Family's Origins: 1970 - 1990s A decade afterwards, Takebachi was one of the shinigami tasked with helping hunt down the remaining "dangerous" Quincy that were scattered across Earth. Unable to carry out such orders, Takebachi instead saved the life of, and secretly hid, Francesca Yi a girl of half-Quincy and Advent Human heritage. Caught between his responsibilities in Soul Society and on Earth, Takebachi soon created a double life, eventually going by the pseudonym of "Father" in the real world, creating a cabal with his trusted friends to fight against the Second Quincy Purge and prevent anything like it from happening again. This cabal eventually became known as "The Family" The SubS-Shini War: Late 2009 Takebachi continued his double life for decades, eventually becoming involved in the conflict between the Shinigami and the rising number of Substitute Shinigami. When his friend Kuroshin reappeared to once again ask for his help, Takebachi immediately agreed, enlisting the Family's aid to expose Seireitei's corruption before the Sub-Shini suffered a fate worse than the Quincy. The Family quickly went to task and invaded Seireitei with the apparent goal of capturing the Central Forty-six. Kuroshin, now the leader of the Espada, enlisted his own faction to assist during the invasion. As it turned out, the Family's mission was a front, but their actual goal was inadvertently achieved when the shadow agents in Seireitei were forced to act opently to steal a vital item from the Gotei known simply as The Source. With this new element of corruption in Seireitei brought to light, the Soutaichou called for an immediate cease-fire between all factions, and declared war on a new enemy known as Purgare. As Seireitei began investigating every nook and cranny for corruption, Takebachi's involvement with the Family was eventually discovered. The Soramaru Manor was invaded by the Keigun, led by Tomiko Kaifu. Takebachi immediately went into action, sending a message to his cousin Aoi so that she could find his parents and ask them to go "dark". Tomiko, however, had counted on this, and had sent Juusuke to attack both Aoi and his aunt and uncle. Takebachi broke free and went to help Aoi, learning too late that he had been poisoned by Tomiko. After helping his cousin and his parents escape, Take traveled to the Fourth Division for aid. While there, he was treated by his new acquaintance, Theta. When his life was no longer in danger, Takebachi turned himself in to the authorities. The New Leader of the Onmitsukidou: 2009 Takebachi made the most of his time in the Maggots' Nest, making new friends and allies, as well as learning new skills. Eventually, however, he was put on trial by Sōtaichō, Musashi, and the remnants of the Central Forty-six. During the trial, Takebachi cooperated with the authorities fully and only asked for immunity for both the Family and the other members of House Soramaru. Musashi made a daring move after hearing his story by, instead of punishing the impertinent noble, making him the new commander of the long-leaderless Onmitsukidou. House Soramaru was also given the honor of becoming one of the Four Noble Houses, taking the place of the now-fallen House Augustine. The Purgare War: 2010 During the war, Takebachi was unable to prevent his daughter, Patricia Yi, from being targeted by an assassin. Patricia was put in a coma, but both her body and soul were brought to safe locations in Soul Society, where she eventually recovered. As the war escalated, the Gotei 13, Onmitsukidō, Espada, Family, Revivalist Order of the Quincy, and other factions joined forces. Eventually, all forces converged at Las Noches and fought a final battle against the forces of Purgare. Here, Takebachi faced Juusuke in battle, and was defeated and nearly killed. He was saved by his cousin Aoi, who held off Juusuke and weakened him long enough for Takebachi to knock him out with one final attack. The rest of the battle was won just as decisively, and the Purgare War was eventually drawn to a close, although not without cost. Operation Modern Venom: 2011 The war had some long-reaching consequences. Not the least of which being that more people in the Human World became aware of the spiritual worlds. In particular, influential members of the United States Military created a unit called Task Force Phantom to protect American soil from "extradimensional" invaders, an action that directly threatened the duty of the Sixth Division to keep the spirit world a secret at all costs. Takebachi attempted to disrupt the operation, but found unexpected opposition in Major Tanjha Kapriserii, the strongest member of the task force. The two met in battle several times, most often to a stalemate. Takebachi came under greater and greater pressure from the Central Forty-six to plug the leak, or else a war could start and the new Sōshireikan could be stripped of his position and title. At the same time, Take had several other problems. Suffering post-traumatic stress, his daughter Patricia grew more and more unstable and his every attempt to stop her self-destruction only made things worse. Simultaneously, the battles against Tanjha exacerbated a dormant infection that Takebachi had acquired during the war, threatening to awaken an inner hollow within him. Takebachi turned to Kuroshin (now retired and without his Shinigami powers) for advice. Kuroshin suggested a means to erase the infection before Hollowification began, but Takebachi refused because the added power of a Hollow might change the stalemate between himself and the Major. The conflict came to a head when Task Force Phantom invaded Soul Society, intending to take the war what they thought was the extent of Shinigami power. However, shortly after they attacked, the humans learned that all this time, they had been struggling against just one Shinigami unit out of more than a dozen. After finally facing both this reality and the final conclusive defeat of their best warrior, the Task Force backed down, and Takebachi and Major Kapriserii negotiated an uneasy truce. A New Takebachi: Present Faced with his failures both in combat and his personal life, Takebachi knew it was time that he changed. Having finally married Aoi immediately after The Siege of Las Noches and fathering two children with her, Takebachi dedicated himself fully to strengthening his clan, controlling his inner demons, and taking his duties in the Gotei seriously. The result is a less promiscuous, more attentive, busier, but far more stressed Takebachi who has finally learned to place is own personal needs and desires aside for a greater purpose. However, this change in perspective is not without stumbles, and Take continuously worries that by beginning to follow his head rather than his heart, he may have taken the first step to becoming the type of nobleman he always hated. Category:Plot Summaries Category:Personal Histories